Origin Paradise!

Vigrid's departure from the Golden Castle clearly indicates that the Emperor has become interested in the alchemical potion that can heal him.

After the duke left, the emperor said, "The ocean titan, the Hydra, fell on the island of the Sea Serpent. Some people told me that there was a celestial phenomenon at the time when a sky-level being was born."

"Under these circumstances, facing an unknown Sky-class combat power separated only by a sea, the Northern Duke's faction chose to shrink its power to Lemon Fortress, while plundering the Northern Territory. Also, can you give me a reason for the Church of Death?"

The atmosphere in the bedroom froze for a moment.

Jiang He frankly stated, "In the past, the ultimate foundation of the Lion Family of the North, the lineage of the King, was restored on that day."

"In order to seize control of the ultimate foundation, I personally killed Eleanor and, based on the weakness of the newly formed Hydra, sent the foundation to kill it. The Sun King was an Imperial Duke, and he should have joined the Church of the Sun after he escaped."

"The Sun Sage will probably be replaced soon."

Such a massive upheaval erupted on an island that the empire had no time to pay attention to. Compared to this, Prince Augustus's murder of his wife seemed insignificant. The bloodline of the Holy Empire's nobility was already rife with filth and betrayal.

"In other words, you possess Sky-level combat power."

The emperor narrowed his eyes: "I have a general idea of ​​Vigrid's strength, but you should also know what it means to me for one side to have two Sky-level experts."

This means they are qualified to challenge the monarchy's status.

Jiang He calmly said, "I will choose to marry a princess from the royal family."

The emperor gently tapped the armrest and said, "In that case, my resentment is nothing. You who killed Eleanor probably don't have the morality to be loyal to Vigrid."

Jiang He remained noncommittal. His cooperation with Vigrid was merely a result of an exchange of interests. In terms of reducing the number of gods, his interests were more aligned with the emperor's. The fewer gods there were, the easier it would be to unify the faith.

"Then, my brother."

"Go and choose your sacred dragon."

The emperor said solemnly, "I will attend the sacred tournament."

A figure emerged from the shadows. He appeared to be middle-aged, yet possessed an aura that rivaled that of an emperor. It was he who had delivered the pardon to the Eternal Death Prison.

—The sword that cuts through steel, the steel swordsman.

Wielding the Steel Sword, one of the top three most lethal sacred weapons, and possessing the authority to slay, he is a pinnacle hero and the honorary guild master of the Adventurers' Guild. Because he serves the emperor, he rarely appears at the Imperial Capital headquarters.

Meanwhile, as one of the top three on the bounty list of the Heavenly Father Church's Inquisition, this Sword Saint is the legendary, unpredictable free assassin in the capital, responsible for purging certain nobles.

When the emperor was seriously ill and the Dragon of Calamity had no new qualified successor, the Steel Sword Saint was the royal family's greatest reliance in checking and balancing the Dragon Master and the Pope.

“Prince Augustus,” the Steel Sword Saint greeted simply, then said, “I know you are very close to the eldest daughter of the Medici family, and she loves you.”

"Talking about feelings in this game?" Jiang He scoffed. "Don't you think you're being too arrogant?"

……

At dawn, the sacred martial arts competition commenced.

Given the chaos that occurred in the previous two martial arts competitions, everyone in the capital is now eagerly anticipating another momentous change.

Unlike before, the emperor himself attended the martial arts competition, positioned at the very top behind the gilded fence. Rumors of the deaths of some emperors and palace assassinations were dispelled, and countless people in the capital cheered wildly, offering their loyalty and reverence to the emperor who had once brought glory to the empire.

Not far from the seat of the third prince, the shadow saint Belladonna's eyes were dark. The second princess had died, and she had returned to the Church of the Seven Gods. Perhaps in a few years, she would become the most honored lady of the empire. But whenever she thought of a certain figure, fear would resurface. She seriously suspected that the princess's sudden death was related to Rhine Augustus.

"First match: Prince Augustus VS Adventurers' Fallen Kingdom!"

The wolf roared, filled with hatred.

Having conquered the church faction and driven the queen to her death, as the "queen's fierce dog," he desperately hoped that Jiang He could make it to the end so that he could personally send her off to her funeral.

Prince Augustus?

"What's going on with the prince?"

"This morning, Golden Castle announced that Augustus is His Majesty's younger brother, of the purest bloodline, and second in the line of succession, second only to the third prince of the direct line."

"I heard he was originally just a down-on-his-luck baron, how did he end up like this!"

Where is this guy?

A commotion erupted in the stands. The Third Prince and a group of bishops had grim expressions. Beside Vigrid, Mirai Kamishiro's face was veiled in black. Ever since she learned of her father's conversation with the Emperor, she had begun to identify herself as Prince Augustus's wife, and as for her identity as a chaste nun, she could only "reluctantly" abandon it.

As the Demon Wolf declared the start of the duel, the fallen kingdom began searching for the enemy. Since the Alchemy Matrix had not issued a warning, it meant that the enemy had already entered the combat range.

"Neither front nor back, neither left nor right."

A shadow fell, and the nation's demise suddenly loomed large.

High in the sky, a giant red dragon, hundreds of meters long, was spreading its wings. Its body was enormous, like a suspended mountain. Its entire body was covered with blood-red scales that reflected a dazzling crimson light in the sunlight. Its wings were huge and wide. When the ferocious dragon head was lowered, a torrent of dragon breath was released, and a blood-red beam of light shot straight to the ground. The high temperature caused ripples to appear in the vacuum.

The emperor couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

Blood Queen Igraia is one of the three strongest dragons in the Royal Sanctuary. Even if the previous King's Sword were alive, it would be quite difficult for them to defeat these three top-tier dragons together.

The appearance of the dragons nearly drove the arena into a frenzy. Royal dragon knights could naturally ride dragons into battle, but most royal members were extremely vulnerable in the relatively confined space of the golden arena.

Boom!

The dragon's breath was released.

Player Wangguo's eyes hardened, and he raised his hand to create a summoning gate. Three thousand steel-boned corpse riders appeared. After learning the priest magic of the world of gods, his overall strength had been significantly improved.

call!

Three Immortal-grade Steel Bone Shields materialized.

The steel-colored bones intertwine to form a shield, spanning the top of the head. The three steel shields overlap, resembling an impregnable fortress.

boom!

Dragon's breath hit the shield.

The splashing crimson flames illuminated the Imperial Arena, resembling countless sparks piercing through a giant sword.

After a prolonged tug-of-war, the first steel shield shattered, but the dragon's breath also dimmed, and the blood-red pillar of light quickly became thin. Just when everyone in the capital thought the attack had been stopped and the country was doomed, a sudden change occurred.

Click!

The two steel shields collapsed almost simultaneously.

The aftershocks of the dragon's breath struck the ground, and amidst the raging torrent, Jiang He landed. As she stepped onto the ground, countless patterns burst forth from the golden sand. A dragon roar, even more ferocious than the Blood Queen's, rose up. The nine-headed, eighteen-horned dragon seemed to have come from hell, unleashing its ultimate power, causing the entire arena to shake.

“The power of force!” Vigrid murmured. There was no doubt that Prince Augustus held the power of force.

The deposed king looked grave and beckoned again. Four Grand Dukes' guards appeared, and the Saint-level guards joined forces to defend. Because of the skill "Soul Chain Resonance," the four undead were as one, and the damage was evenly distributed.

"I don't believe you can be that strong!"

He roared with rage within his heart, convinced that he had reached the pinnacle of the Holy Realm and would soon be able to reach the peak of heroism, eventually achieving legendary status.

Boom!

With a flash of light, all four Saint-level undead were shattered.

A precise uppercut shattered several immortal-level magical defenses, landing squarely on the chest of the fallen kingdom. With their faces almost touching, Jiang He opened his mouth. The breath from the young dragon should have been relatively weak, but the chaotic energy infused into it caused the light to annihilate the enemy's body.

Like a chaotic giant slash sweeping out, the golden battlefield instantly shattered into a thousand-meter-deep abyss.

"Killed them?"

"No, the alchemy matrix has not disappeared."

"Living even after the country has fallen!"

The next moment, among the steel-boned corpse riders at the edge of the golden battlefield, the fallen kingdom transferred its life casket within the body of its subordinate undead. Although it had escaped death, the feeling of impending annihilation still left a lingering fear in its heart.

"Where I wave my hand, tombstones stand in rows."

"When I stopped, the bones came back to life."

Surrounded by tens of thousands of undead, the fallen kingdom desperately unleashed more than a dozen immortal-level spells, causing Vigrid, the wolf, and others to take notice. The necromancer was a one-man army of knights.

In an instant, countless tombstones surrounded Jiang He.

The warriors who had died in the Imperial Arena manifested in the form of soul reflections, densely packed like golden grains of sand beneath their feet, filling the arena. Then, the skill "Soul Burial of Lamentation" was activated, ultimately creating the sub-legendary forbidden spell, "Soul Burial Song," whose ethereal and profound melody enveloped everything.

The omnipresent soul attacks came from all directions.

Jiang He stood still, her expression remaining unchanged.

The second spiritual talent bestowed upon him by the King of Gold, the Eternal Soul, shone brightly. The unparalleled resilience forged by the deaths of billions of lives allowed him to calmly ignore the forbidden spell attack.

"Impossible..." Despair gradually crept into the eyes of the vanquished nation.

Directly withstanding a sub-legendary forbidden spell was a level of power that exceeded his understanding of beings at the Saint Realm level.

The next moment, a thorny spear was formed in Jiang He's hand, and the Spear of Victory Oath burst forth. A beam of spear light shattered the tsunami of souls and destroyed the body of a fallen nation under the dominion of fate.

The casket of life was immediately moved, but the gunfire relentlessly pursued it, and one by one, the undead exploded, until the destined death caught up with the fallen nation, and annihilation descended completely.

[Hint: Number of war victories +1 (5/9)]

The alchemical matrix used to determine victory or defeat has disappeared.

"Prince Augustus wins!" the wolf shouted.

Countless people in the capital rose from the stands to cheer for this overwhelming victory. The emperor chuckled twice. The Holy Empire loved the victors, and it was extremely steadfast and consistent in this regard, at least until the victors were defeated.

……

Behind the gilded fence.

Jiang He entered her VIP private room.

The glass created by the Alchemy Guild is one-way; you can see out from the inside, but it looks like a wall from the outside.

Along the way, many noble boxes resounded with joyous songs. Power, betrayal, war, death, and pleasure have always been the main themes of the imperial nobility. When the martial arts competition reached its climax, it was common to see suffering nightingales, maids, or wandering poets.

"Prince Augustus, do you need any assistance?"

The goddess of beauty and the sage came over for a chat, with many shy young girls standing behind him. They were all nuns and priests, and the girls didn't care much about the power struggles between the important figures' factions, but Prince Augustus's handsomeness and power were obvious to all.

"Do you think you have a kind face?" Jiang He ignored the other person and walked straight past.

The goddess of beauty quickly said, "My god is very interested in you. Your charm is unparalleled, yet it remains unseen. My god's judgment is never wrong, as long as..."

Jiang He entered the private room and closed the door behind her.

He painstakingly acquired the mythical charm of anger and reversal, but it wasn't up to the goddess of beauty to help him remove it.

Inside the private room, Mirai Kamishiro had been waiting for a long time.

The girl with brown hair possessed a beauty that the clergy from before could hardly match, and her white dress resembled a wedding gown.

Mirai Kamishiro lifted her skirt with her slender hand, sat down at the tea table, and said with a bright smile:

"Senior, please make yourself at home."

Jiang He did not refuse, but asked, "If the Medici family were to face destruction, what do you plan to do? Your father is about to officially start a war with the Seven Gods Cult."

Kamishiro Mirai said somewhat seriously, "Of course I will live and die with my family. In the past, I only received exploitation, but my family is different, and my seniors are different too. Besides, I will also shoulder my sister's obligations."

Jiang He nodded.

Then he stood up and started pedaling.

Outside the VIP box, Jiang He skillfully carried out her work while keeping her eyes downcast on the golden battlefield.

Because the number of participants was reduced, the competition progressed quickly. The second to advance was the Elf Queen. Despite her attempts to conceal it, some powerful figures, including the Emperor and Vigrid, could still tell that she was about to advance to the Sky level.

In the afternoon, the other two defeated their opponents and advanced. Both were saints of the Seven Gods Cult, one belonging to the God of Whispers and the other a Divine Knight.

Jiang He entrusted Vigrid to draw lots on his behalf. However, the schedule was actually predetermined, and he and the Elf Queen, who were the most likely to win, would most likely meet in the finals.

"Senior, it seems your opponent is the Secret Word Saint."

Mirai Kamishiro was focused on the draw results on the golden battlefield. She was sticky all over, but since the competition was not over yet, she could only barely muster her energy.

When the horns of the Imperial Arena sounded once more.

Jiang He left without lingering.

Kamishiro Mirai turned her head, feeling a little empty inside. A strange unease rose within her, unrelated to the sacred martial arts competition, but rather because her senior's consistently indifferent attitude was no longer concealed today.

……

Horns blared throughout the Imperial Arena.

"The first match of this round, Prince Augustus versus the Whispering Saints," the Demon Wolf announced.

Jiang He walked into the golden battlefield, where the Red Queen was lying next to the warrior sculpture at the top of the stands. In fact, even the Dragon of Calamity had clearly shown interest when the dragons were being selected.

However, due to the excessive purity of the Dragon God's bloodline, the Calamity Dragon ultimately chose to refuse, and the one with the higher bloodline concentration undoubtedly became the dominant force in the Dragon Knight state.

"Your ability to rise from baron to prince is truly astonishing."